tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-42610721643402276122018-03-06T10:39:16.406-08:00UW TeamstrannonTeamstrannonnoreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4261072164340227612.post-27835668176356059532010-06-18T13:13:00.000-07:002010-06-18T13:13:51.582-07:00Big 12 Conference Expansion Funnies, Worth Checking Out for a Good LaughThanks to our friends at Tigerdroppings<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img692.imageshack.us/img692/9243/aggyfurkinglonghorn.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="280" src="http://img692.imageshack.us/img692/9243/aggyfurkinglonghorn.gif" width="400" /></a></div>&nbsp; <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img541.imageshack.us/img541/9434/big122a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="351" src="http://img541.imageshack.us/img541/9434/big122a.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img535.imageshack.us/img535/9909/yellafellatea.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="390" src="http://img535.imageshack.us/img535/9909/yellafellatea.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Teamstrannonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4261072164340227612.post-86781630179870683912010-06-11T13:44:00.001-07:002010-06-11T13:44:52.937-07:00U of Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State to the Pac - 10Announcement set and will be released soon. <br /><br />That leaves one spot open for an additional team. Who will it be?Teamstrannonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4261072164340227612.post-16913272246623598692010-06-11T11:45:00.000-07:002010-06-11T11:45:44.130-07:00Nebraska Officially Accepts Big 10 Offers and Bolts. Dominos Set to Fall<h1>Nebraska bolts for the Big Ten</h1><div class="byline_creditline"> <h4>By BLAIR KERKHOFF</h4><h4>The Kansas City Star</h4></div><div id="story_right"> <div id="storyAssets"> <script language="Javascript">function PopupPic(sPicURL, sHeight, sWidth) { window.open( "http://media.kansascity.com/static/popup.html?"+sPicURL, "", "resizable=1,HEIGHT=" +sHeight+ ",WIDTH=" +sWidth); } </script> <!-- photo or image available --><div id="mainImage"> <!-- Start: /pubsys/production/story/assets/image_embedded.comp --> <div class="image"> <a class="thickbox" href="http://media.kansascity.com/smedia/2010/06/11/12/nebraska_splash.standalone.prod_affiliate.81.jpg" rel="storyImg" title="The Cornhuskers are taking their loyal fan base to the Big Ten."><img alt="The Cornhuskers are taking their loyal fan base to the Big Ten." border="0" height="200" src="http://media.kansascity.com/smedia/2010/06/11/12/nebraska_splash.embedded.prod_affiliate.81.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="imageByline">File photo by CHRIS OBERHOLTZ | The Star</div><div class="imageCaption">The Cornhuskers are taking their loyal fan base to the Big Ten.</div><!-- End: /pubsys/production/story/assets/image_embedded.comp --> </div><ul class="link_list"><!-- Start: /pubsys/production/story/assets/external_link.comp --></ul></div><div id="storyAssets"> </div><script type="text/javascript">$(document).ready(function() { replaceRelated(177);}); </script></div>LINCOLN, Neb. | The University of Nebraska has accepted an offer to join the Big Ten Conference, The Kansas City Star has learned.<br /><br />Late this morning, Nebraska officials contacted the Big Ten office, informing the league of the decision. Nebraska will become the 12th member of the Big Ten.<br /><br />Meanwhile, University of Texas regents will meet next week to decide whether the Longhorns will remain in the Big 12 or switch to another conference.<br /><br />The regents announced today that they will hold a meeting by telephone Tuesday for "discussion and appropriate action regarding athletic conference membership."<br />The future of the Big 12 already was in jeopardy after Colorado agreed Thursday to jump to the Pac-10. The Pac-10 is also reportedly interested in inviting Texas, Texas A&amp;M, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech to form a 16-team league.<br /><br />Based on 2009 figures, Nebraska would double the amount of money it receives from conference distributions in the Big Ten. Big Ten schools received about $20 million a year in revenue compared with the $10 million Nebraska took in from the Big 12.<br /><br />The Associated Press contributed to this report<br /><br />Read more: <a href="http://www.kansascity.com/2010/06/11/2009414/nebraska-bolts-for-the-big-ten.html#ixzz0qZUlED1I" style="color: #003399;">http://www.kansascity.com/2010/06/11/2009414/nebraska-bolts-for-the-big-ten.html#ixzz0qZUlED1I</a>Teamstrannonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4261072164340227612.post-56840861180938466822010-06-09T13:28:00.000-07:002010-06-09T13:28:55.198-07:00Nebraska Approves Move to Big 10. Pac - 10 Conference Likley Pac -16<div class="byline" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">A source close to the Nebraska Board of Regents told Orangebloods.com the regents met informally Wednesday and have agreed to move to the Big Ten and that a formal announcement Nebraska is leaving will come Friday.</span></div><script language="javascript">document.write("<div id=contentcontainer style='font-size: " + currentsize + "pt;'> "); </script> <div id="contentcontainer" style="font-size: 9pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sources close to Texas, Texas A&amp;M and Texas Tech have suggested to Orangebloods.com over the last week that if Nebraska leaves, the Big 12 can't be saved.</span><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><span style="font-family: inherit;">A Fox television report out of Ohio said Nebraska now has an invitation from the Big Ten.</span><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><span style="font-family: inherit;">One of the reasons given for Nebraska's importance to the league is because the relationship between Missouri and the rest of the Big 12 has soured beyond repair.</span><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><span style="font-family: inherit;">And to complicate matters for Missouri, the Tigers appear to be falling down the list of priorities for the Big Ten. </span><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><span style="font-family: inherit;">An athletic director with knowledge of the Big Ten said, "Missouri is getting cold shoulder from Big Ten."</span><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Joe Schad of ESPN reported Wednesday that the Big Ten list of interest for expansion goes like this: 1) Notre Dame 2) Nebraska 3) Rutgers and/or Maryland.</span><br style="font-family: inherit;" /></span><!--Start DanBeebe2002 Image--> <script language="Javascript">document.write(insertImage('http://vmedia.rivals.com/uploads/928/950159.jpg', '950159.jpg', 1, 267, 200, 1, 'Dan Beebe and the Big 12 appear to be at the mercy of Nebraska and other outside forces.', '', 1276103476000, 'DanBeebe2002', 928, 'Align=Left')); </script> <table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="font-family: inherit; width: 208px;"><tbody><tr> <td width="202"><span style="font-size: small;"><img height="267" src="http://vmedia.rivals.com/uploads/928/950159.jpg" style="border: 1px solid black;" width="200" /></span></td> <td rowspan="4" width="6"><span style="font-size: small;"><img height="3" src="http://vmedia.rivals.com/images/spacer1.gif" width="6" /></span></td></tr><tr> <td align="right"><span style="font-size: small;">Associated Press</span></td></tr><tr> <td height="3"><span style="font-size: small;"><img height="3" src="http://vmedia.rivals.com/images/spacer1.gif" width="1" /></span></td></tr><tr> <td align="middle"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Dan Beebe and the Big 12 appear to be at the mercy of Nebraska and other outside forces.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><!-- End DanBeebe2002 Image--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">According to a story by Lee Barfknecht of the Omaha World-Herald, a respected reporter covering the Big 12 for years, Nebraska is expected to leave for the Big Ten as early as Friday, according to information provided to Barfknecht by an executive at another Big 12 school.</span><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><span style="font-family: inherit;">That is the day Nebraska's regents have a formal meeting in Lincoln. </span><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Nebraska athletic director Tom Osborne on his monthly radio show on the Husker Sports Network said he hoped "to get things together in the next few days."</span><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><span style="font-family: inherit;">But Osborne acknowledged, "There's a lot of information we really don't have right now." </span><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Here's his entire quote:</span><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><span style="font-family: inherit;">"I suppose there is quite a bit I can speculate on, but as you and I talked before the show came on there's a lot of information we really don't have right now," Osborne said. </span><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><span style="font-family: inherit;">"Hopefully we'll get things put together in the next few days. Anything I would say regarding Nebraska's position or other schools in the Big 12 right now would be pure speculation at this point and I don't think that's very helpful. As much as I know fans don't like it, I think we need to put certain things off limits.</span><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><span style="font-family: inherit;">"I think before too long, I don't know exactly what that time frame is, but we'll be able to put this thing to bed because I'm getting tired of it."</span><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><b style="font-family: inherit;">BIG 12's FINAL SUPPER ON JUNE 14?</b><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Two different executives in the Big 12 confirmed to Orangebloods.com Wednesday morning the hard deadline for Nebraska, Missouri, Colorado and the entire Big 12 to pledge their allegiance to each other is Monday, June 14.</span><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><span style="font-family: inherit;">A high-level executive at a Big 12 institution said there have been informal conversations about who to add to the Big 12 if schools start to leave. Those schools have included BYU and Air Force. </span><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><span style="font-family: inherit;">But that same executive as well as others in the Big 12 South have told Orangebloods.com the conference will not survive if Nebraska leaves - no matter who else stays or goes.</span><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><span style="font-family: inherit;">If Nebraska were to stay in the Big 12 and Missouri and Colorado were to leave, for example, the sense is the Big 12 could attempt to add schools like BYU and Air Force to the Big 12 North and move ahead.</span><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><b style="font-family: inherit;">TEXAS AND TEXAS A&amp;M MEET THURSDAY</b><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><span style="font-family: inherit;">In a related development, a legislative source with knowledge of Texas A&amp;M said officials from A&amp;M and Texas will meet on Thursday to discuss all the goings on and to make sure they are on the same page if the Big 12 falls apart. The source said, however, that Texas and Texas A&amp;M remain steadfast in lobbying for the Big 12 to stay together. </span><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><b style="font-family: inherit;">NOTRE DAME'S CALL</b><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><span style="font-family: inherit;">The future of the Big 12 appeared to hinge on the Big Ten's deliberations with Notre Dame. The Big Ten has promised Notre Dame it will stop its expansion at 12 schools if Notre Dame agrees to finally forgo its independence and become part of a conference, an athletic director with knowledge of the Big Ten has told Orangebloods.com.</span><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Notre Dame is apparently locked in a battle among its Board of Trustees about what to do. There are some who fear the Irish being left out of the formation of what could well become four, super conferences in college athletics. That could cost Notre Dame its access to a BCS bid. </span><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Big Ten has also given indications it will go east and possibly raid anywhere from one to three schools from the Big East, where Notre Dame plays its other sports, leaving the Irish scrambling even more.</span><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><span style="font-family: inherit;">In the ultimate irony, the only way Notre Dame may be able to avoid the super conference scenario is by doing what it least wants to do: give up its independence and lucrative NBC/Comcast contract and join a conference.</span><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sources have told Orangebloods.com the Big Ten would not be handing out any more invitations if Notre Dame agrees to join the league. An AD source reaffirmed to Orangebloods.com Wednesday that "there is a timeline involved" between Notre Dame and the Big Ten.</span><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Joe Schad of ESPN reported this week Notre Dame doesn't appear to be budging.</span><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><span style="font-family: inherit;">The longer there is silence about Notre Dame's intentions, the more reason to believe Notre Dame could remain on its own.</span><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><b style="font-family: inherit;">COLORADO'S BAD TIMING</b><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><span style="font-family: inherit;">In another development, one source inside the Big 12 told Orangebloods.com Tuesday Colorado was expected to have a major announcement as early as Wednesday. But that announcement turned out to be with regard to scholarship reductions for the Colorado football and basketball programs because of substandard NCAA APR (Academic Progress Rates).</span><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><span style="font-family: inherit;">CU is the only BCS football program to be sanctioned with scholarship reductions and is one of only two BCS basketball programs to get sanctioned, OB has learned.</span><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Buffaloes have already served the four scholarships it was docked for football and the one it was docked for basketball.</span><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><span style="font-family: inherit;">The timing is poor considering the school's possible courtship with some of the more high-minded academic institutions in the Pac-10.</span><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Boulder Daily Camera reported a regents meeting at CU Tuesday night produced nothing more than legal advice about different scenarios. CU officials said they have not yet received an invitation from the Pac-10, according to the report.</span><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Despite that claim, speculation continues to swirl that Colorado could be preparing to accept a bid from the Pac-10 Conference, which has targeted the Buffaloes for expansion.</span><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><span style="font-family: inherit;">As Orangebloods.com first reported last Thursday, Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott's preference is to expand the Pac-10 by six schools. That original list included Texas, Texas A&amp;M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Colorado.</span><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><b style="font-family: inherit;">BAYLOR'S FIGHT FACING RESISTANCE?</b><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Since that report legislators and lobbyists with loyalty to Baylor have launched an all-out effort in the Texas Legislature to ensure that Baylor remains with the rest of the Big 12 South if it were to move to the Pac-10.</span><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><span style="font-family: inherit;">One top source close to the possible merger between the Pac-10 and six Big 12 schools said some schools in the Pac-10, including California-Berkeley, have a real issue with adding an institution with religious ties like Baylor to the conference.</span><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><b style="font-family: inherit;">GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION?</b><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><span style="font-family: inherit;">It has been expressed to Orangebloods.com by a top collegiate executive that any movement toward four, 16-team super conferences will be met with resistance by Congress.</span><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><span style="font-family: inherit;">The executive said that could be bad news for college athletics because Congress has already taken some cursory looks at the fact athletic departments enjoy a tax-exempt status as part of their universities.</span><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><span style="font-family: inherit;">The executive said if it appears the rich are getting richer in college athletics, there will be a hard look at whether to take away the tax exempt status of athletic departments.</span><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><span style="font-family: inherit;">"And it won't just be Orin Hatch (a member of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee from Utah and longtime BCS critic) looking into this," the source said. </span><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Stay tuned.</span></span></div><div id="contentcontainer" style="font-size: 9pt;"><b>Chip Brown</b><br />Orangebloods.com Columnist<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span></div>Teamstrannonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4261072164340227612.post-24502863729307159802010-06-07T09:53:00.000-07:002010-06-07T09:53:10.326-07:00The Pac - 10 Approves Conference Expansion Plans - Move to Expand to 16 Universities?<div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">In a move that could herald a historic change in the makeup of the Pac-10, conference commissioner Larry Scott was given approval Sunday to pursue expansion. The approval, given by conference presidents and chancellors on the final day of Pac-10 meetings in San Francisco, means Scott can proceed with expansion plans without returning to the board for further consent.</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">General expansion plans focus on six Big 12 teams — Texas, Texas A&amp;M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Colorado — to join the Pac-10. That would create two eight-team divisions: Washington and Washington State in what would essentially be the old Pac-8, along with USC, UCLA, Oregon, Oregon State, California and Stanford; and the six Big 12 teams with Arizona and Arizona State in the other division. That would set up a potentially lucrative football conference title game, the site of which potentially could alternate between the Rose Bowl and the new Cowboys Stadium in Dallas.</span> </div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Bob Condotta does a nice job breaking down the <a href="http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/collegesports/2012049057_grid07.html">news in his story.</a>&nbsp;</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Other views on expansion and what it means to other colleges can be found in this set of links.</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"> <span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"> <span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/stories/060710dnspoexpansion.793f801a.html">The Dallas Morning News has this take on what expansion means to the Texas teams in question.</a></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="vitstorybody" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="vitstorybody"> "Baylor continues to make a major push to be part of any Pac-10 expansion plan with its fellow South members (Texas, Texas A&amp;M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State). In a <a class="DL-topic-highlighted" href="http://topics.dallasnews.com/topic/Twitter_Inc">Twitter</a><span> </span> post, <a class="DL-topic-highlighted" href="http://topics.dallasnews.com/topic/Pete_Thamel">Pete Thamel</a><span> </span>of the <i>New York Times</i> reported that Baylor "appears to have bumped" Colorado in the expansion sweepstakes.<br /><br />"We'd love to see the Big 12 stay the way it is," Texas State Sen. Kip Averitt (R-Waco) told our Austin statehouse bureau today. "But if it doesn't, we want to be where the Texas schools are." <br />Averitt said he couldn't confirm that an effort is under way to sway Pac 10 officials, if they adopt half of the Big 12, to invite the Bears"<br /><br /><a href="http://www.saltlakemagazine.com/Blogs/Outdoors/June-2010/Pac-10-expansion-probably-won-039t-include-Utes-Cougs/">Salt Lake Magazine mentions that Pac -10 expansion unlikely to include Utah </a></span></span></span><div style="font-family: inherit;">"As sure as the NCAA tournament will include 124 teams (plus three play-in divisions of 12 teams each) and the SEC is about to propose using a NASCAR points system to ensure all its top-tier make it into some gerrymandered and blustery form of a BCS playoff, it's a downright gu-ar-an-tee the Pac 10 will try to make itself over into the gigantor Heidi Montag to its rival Whitney Port of the East Coast/deep south pigskin juggernaut.</div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: inherit;">At first, talk of modest expansion to 12 teams included (and, was in fact, limited to) the Utes and Colorado with the dark horse/quickly ruled-out BYU.</div><div style="font-family: inherit;">Made sense.</div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: inherit;">As political winds shifted, Pac 10 commissioners all but ruled out cash cow BYU based on, well... to paraphrase: "We just don't think Berkeley would go for that."</div><div style="font-family: inherit;">Fair enough — Cougar boosters like it or not, true or not, BYU = the school that backed Prop. 8 and those dirty old men of the Pac 10 like their politics just like they like their coastline — on the left.</div><div style="font-family: inherit;">No matter how deserving, looks like the Utes might not schmooze their way in either.</div><div style="font-family: inherit;">Justifying<em> not</em> kicking out upstarts Arizona and Arizona State — grandfathered into the Pac 8 more than three decades ago during its last expansion — in the wake of its decision to make muddled the musical chair post-post-partisan political shell game of who can stay and who can go, will be tough enough for this crew o'er the weekend.</div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: inherit;">Bringing in the Beehive rife with headline-grabbing firing squads, fumbled MLK Day celebration plans, proposals to change the state's name to "GlennBeckistan" and Kevin Garn's hot tub party — in spite of the rabid fan bases (which do not ascribe to the aforementioned) — in other words, ain't gonna happen.</div><div style="font-family: inherit;">And the Utes, unfair as it may seem, will most likely will be the odd man out."</div><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="vitstorybody" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="vitstorybody"></span></span></span><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://gazetteonline.com/blogs/the-hlog/2010/06/05/hlas-column-a-big-12-breakup-would-leave-iowa-state-heartsick">The Iowa Gazette Online talks about how Iowa State would likely become an orphan if expansion comes</a></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">"Iowa State University could become a 152-year-old orphan should some scenarios play out the way they could. If the Pacific-10 Conference does indeed swipe&nbsp;Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&amp;M, Texas Tech, and either Baylor or Colorado, the Big 12 is big no more.</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">It isn’t BCS-big, it isn’t ESPN-big. It’s a ghost league.</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Now, it would take some serious doing for the Pac-10 to pull that off. If history has taught us anything, it’s that you don’t know what to believe when it comes to conference-expansion chatter.</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">But let’s say the Big Ten is as serious about expansion as many think it is, and it grabs Missouri and Nebraska. Suddenly, Iowa State becomes a school without a border neighbor.</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">In the words of the immortal Chico Marx, thassa no good."</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://espn.go.com/blog/ncfnation/post/_/id/22894/to-take-or-not-take-boise-state">&nbsp;ESPN Looks at the Mountain West's opportunity to take the rest of the Big 12 and Boise State</a></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">"So here’s the Mountain West, prepared to expand by one, but now presented with an opportunity to expand with the remaining Big 12 teams. <br /><br />What’s a conference to do? </span> <span style="font-size: small;"><br /><br />Reports have been all over the place:</span> </div><div style="font-family: inherit;"> </div><ul style="font-family: inherit;"><li><span style="font-size: small;">The Mountain West could go ahead with its scheduled plan and ignore the Pac-10 report.</span></li><li><span style="font-size: small;">The Mountain West could hold off on expansion until the Pac-10 and Big Ten send invites, which could happen this week.</span></li><li><span style="font-size: small;">The Mountain West could now look to expand to 16 teams.</span></li></ul><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Mountain West has tried to stay away from massive expansion to avoid what happened to the 16-team WAC (which ultimately created the Mountain West), but Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson said the conference presidents talked about the idea on Sunday. </span><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><span style="font-family: inherit;">"At the 30,000-foot level, we talked about 16 for the first time in a long time," Thompson told media camped out in Jackson, Wyo. </span></span> <span style="font-size: small;"><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><span style="font-family: inherit;">So, here’s this week’s question: If you’re the Mountain West, do you wait to let expansion play out or take Boise State and look to go to 16 teams? And if the conference does wait, does Boise State fear it might be left out in the cold? </span></span> <span style="font-size: small;"><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><span style="font-family: inherit;">We might find out this answer later today, but I thought I’d let you all play commissioner. Now, we don’t know which teams will be available, but it looks like a four-team mixture of the potential choices -- Baylor, Colorado, Iowa State, Kansas and Kansas State -- could be on the table. So what do you think? Should Boise State be sweating" </span></span>Teamstrannonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4261072164340227612.post-32199991611553064592010-06-03T13:13:00.000-07:002010-06-03T13:13:33.698-07:00Pac - 10 Expanding to Pac - 16 Adding Texas, TT, Tex A&M, Ok, OK ST, and Colorado?It appears the Pac-10, which has its meetings in San Francisco starting this weekend, is prepared to make a bold move and invite Texas, Texas A&amp;M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Colorado to join its league, according to multiple sources close to the situation.<br /><br /><!--Start DeLoss Dodds 200X267 Image--> <script language="Javascript">document.write(insertImage('http://vmedia.rivals.com/uploads/902/945276.jpg', '945276.jpg', 0, 267, 200, 1, 'Texas athletic director DeLoss Dodds has maintained that the Longhorns will do whatever it takes to remain the Jones\' of college football.', 'UT Photo', 1275590078000, 'DeLoss Dodds 200X267', 902, 'Align=right')); </script> <br /><table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 208px;"><tbody><tr> <td width="202"><img height="267" src="http://vmedia.rivals.com/uploads/902/945276.jpg" style="border: 1px solid black;" width="200" /></td> <td rowspan="4" width="6"><img height="3" src="http://vmedia.rivals.com/images/spacer1.gif" width="6" /></td></tr><tr> <td align="right"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: xx-small;">UT Photo</span></td></tr><tr> <td height="3"><img height="3" src="http://vmedia.rivals.com/images/spacer1.gif" width="1" /></td></tr><tr> <td align="middle"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>Texas athletic director DeLoss Dodds has maintained that the Longhorns will do whatever it takes to remain the Jones' of college football.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><!-- End DeLoss Dodds 200X267 Image-->Left out would be Iowa State, Baylor, Kansas, Kansas State, Nebraska and Missouri.<br /><br />Messages left with Pac-10 officials by Orangebloods.com on Thursday were not immediately returned.<br /><br />The six teams from the Big 12 would be in an eight-team division with Arizona and Arizona State. The other eight-team division would consist of USC, UCLA, Cal, Stanford, Oregon, Oregon State, Washington and Washington State.<br /><br />The thought is the Big 16 (or whatever they decide for the name) would start its own television network that could command premium subscriber dollars from cable providers on par with the Big Ten Network and pay out upwards of $20 million to each of the 16 schools in TV revenue.<br /><br />Such a merger between the six Big 12 schools and the Pac-10 would build a conference with seven of the country's top 20 TV markets (Los Angeles, Dallas, San Francisco, Houston, Phoenix, Seattle and Sacramento). And such a league would likely command attention from every cable system in the country and command a premium rate from every cable system west of the Mississippi.<br /><br />Those projected TV revenues would double the current payouts of roughly $9 million to Big 12 and Pac-10 members. If the Big 16 reached its projections, the league would also surpass the SEC's projected payout of $17 million per school reached in a 15-year TV deal with ABC/ESPN and CBS signed in 2008.<br /><br />Reported by Chris Brown of Orangebloods.com, a Texas sports website.Teamstrannonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4261072164340227612.post-26978795179454406912010-02-21T08:51:00.000-08:002010-02-21T08:54:28.467-08:00Pac 10 Expansion To Include the Texas Schools? What is a Super Conference?Woodward also talked about expansion and said the Pac-10 and the Big Ten have reached out to officials at <span style="font-weight:bold;">Texas and Texas A&M</span>. "I'd be surprised if our office is not in contact with them," he said. "I'm sure those conversations have happened and are taking place."<br /><br />When asked if the league might expand beyond two teams, Woodward said that's a possibility. "It could be two, four or a merger of Big 12. ... There's a theory that at the end of the day there's only going to be four super conferences. Now that it's going to look like, God only knows."<br /><br />Courtesy of Percy AllenTeamstrannonnoreply@blogger.com1